• Age: 14 to 18
• Grade: 9 to 12

René Goldman grows up entranced with the theatre, music, languages and geography. Enveloped by his parents’ love and protection, he wanders the streets of Luxembourg and then Brussels, carefree and prone to mischief. But in 1942, his family flees to France and eight-year-old René is separated from his parents and shunted between children’s homes and convents, where he must hide both his Jewish identity and his mounting anxiety. As René waits for his parents to return, even liberation day does not feel like freedom.

René Goldman was born in Luxembourg on March 25, 1934. After the war, he lived in children’s homes in Paris and then pursued his education in Poland. In 1953, René left for Beijing, where he studied Chinese language, literature and history. He graduated from Columbia University and then joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia, where he taught courses in Chinese history. René Goldman lives in Summerland, British Columbia.

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